SACRAMENTO -- Today the California Air Resources Board (ARB) approved over $600,000
for two research projects to study the effects of air pollution on children’s health. The ARB is part of
the California Environmental Protection Agency.

ARB Chairman Alan Lloyd said, “Children’s health is of great concern to this Board.
Because lung function and growth can be significantly reduced in children that are exposed even to moderate levels
of air pollution, more of our resources are going toward determining which sources have the greatest impact on
children’s health.”

One of the studies approved today will determine children’s exposure to pollutants while
riding on school buses, waiting at stops and waiting near idling buses during loading. The $500,000 study
will also use different school bus commute scenarios, sampling locations and bus fuel types, such as compressed
natural gas and buses using soot traps, to characterize the range of children’s exposures during their daily school
bus commute. The results, expected in 2003, will be used to estimate children’s exposure to toxic diesel exhaust
particles and other bus-related pollutants. Results of the study may be used as guidance for future air quality
rules with regard to children’s health, as well as serving as a basis for evaluating the benefits of alternative
fuel and emission control technologies for buses. This study is a follow-up to a two-year in-car
study conducted by the ARB and South Coast Air Quality Management District that found exposure to some air
pollutants and toxic compounds may be ten times higher inside vehicles than in ambient air.

Another study will focus on sources of air pollution and their levels inside portable classrooms.
The $126,000 allocation furthers work in the California Portable Classrooms
Study being conducted by the ARB and Department of Health Services (DHS). The Portable Classrooms Study will
measure indoor air pollutant levels and environmental conditions in 240 classrooms at 60 schools, including traditional
classrooms and portables.

Floor dust samples will be collected in all classrooms, particularly from carpets, which
can act like a pollutant sponge. Concentrations in carpets can show a historical buildup of potentially hazardous
long-term exposure to pollutants. Indoor and outdoor air will also be sampled to identify and count mold
spores. Results from the study, expected in 2002, will bolster the main study by providing more
information on mold spores and floor dust pollution concentrations, greatly increasing the available information
on student and teacher classroom exposures to air pollutants. The results are expected to assist the ARB
and DHS provide effective guidance and recommendations to prevent harmful exposures inside California’s classrooms.

The Air Resources Board is a department of the California Environmental
Protection Agency. ARB's mission is to promote and protect public health, welfare, and ecological resources
through effective reduction of air pollutants while recognizing and considering effects on the economy. The
ARB oversees all air pollution control efforts in California to attain and maintain health based air quality standards.

The energy challenge facing California is real. Every Californian needs to take immediate
action to reduce energy consumption. For a list of sample ways you can reduce
demand and cut your energy costs, see our website: http://www.arb.ca.gov.